I can't believe not many people are discussing this.
The Witcher 3 had great quest design. Almost all of the quests were logically connected and the developers constantly rewarded the player for improvisation with unique scenes and dialogues.
For example, if you do few quests in Velen and then go to Skellige, the dialogues with Yennifer and other characters will change and Geralt will only talk about what the player knows.
If you find the son of Crach an Craite on Skellige before he asks for it, all dialogue with Hjalmar will change, because Geralt will have a different motivation to save him.
If you visit the Baron's daughter after Novigrad, Geralt will be aware of the witch hunters and the dialogues will change.
If you don't come to meet Gunther O Dim, later there will be a different scene and unique dialogue with him.
Almost every mission has interesting scenes after the end of the quest. If you spared a husband and wife in the village where a friend of the herbalist went missing, then coming back later you can see the scene where the man tells Geralt that his wife died of starvation.
During one of the quests in the White Garden, Geralt discovers that the merchant is actually a soldier of Temeria. After the quest you can follow this character and he will go to his secret camp in the forest.
If you completed the quest about the werewolf in the village and then return to it, there will be 5 different scenes with dialogues depending on your actions during the quest.
If during a witcher order to clear the basement of a golem, you hit the wooden pillars in combat and return to the mission site afterwards, you get a unique dialogue about how the ceiling of the house collapsed and the owner of the house died under the rubble. If you fought carefully the house will eventually be intact and the customer will stay alive.
I could go on and on listing examples like that in The Witcher 3. And there's nothing like that in Cyberpunk 2077.
Fixer Regina asks player to bring her friend over? Okay, let's follow his car after the quest. Surely this will lead to some unique scene and dialogue! After all, that's how the quests in The Witcher 3 were structured. No. The result is Regina's friend driving around town in circles.
Takemura asks you to hack the computer? What happens if you hack it beforehand? Nothing, hacking is impossible until the quest says "go hack that computer."
Panam ask to save Saul? What happens if I try to save Saul myself? Nothing, there is no way to save him before I go through the main gate of the building and the game tells me to "Go save Saul".
And so it is with every quest. Don't think, follow the quest instructions on the screen. There aren't even any additional dialogue scenes if you go back to the mission zone after completing the quest.
I have no problem with Cyberpunk not having the best open world in the gaming industry, I just expected non-linear quests that encourage the players to think with their head and reward that approach with unique scenes and dialogue. Something that was already perfectly implemented in The Witcher 3.
So what happened to quest design in Cyberpunk 2077?
PS: I hope I was able to express my thoughts clearly. English is not my native language.
The Witcher 3 had great quest design. Almost all of the quests were logically connected and the developers constantly rewarded the player for improvisation with unique scenes and dialogues.
For example, if you do few quests in Velen and then go to Skellige, the dialogues with Yennifer and other characters will change and Geralt will only talk about what the player knows.
If you find the son of Crach an Craite on Skellige before he asks for it, all dialogue with Hjalmar will change, because Geralt will have a different motivation to save him.
If you visit the Baron's daughter after Novigrad, Geralt will be aware of the witch hunters and the dialogues will change.
If you don't come to meet Gunther O Dim, later there will be a different scene and unique dialogue with him.
Almost every mission has interesting scenes after the end of the quest. If you spared a husband and wife in the village where a friend of the herbalist went missing, then coming back later you can see the scene where the man tells Geralt that his wife died of starvation.
During one of the quests in the White Garden, Geralt discovers that the merchant is actually a soldier of Temeria. After the quest you can follow this character and he will go to his secret camp in the forest.
If you completed the quest about the werewolf in the village and then return to it, there will be 5 different scenes with dialogues depending on your actions during the quest.
If during a witcher order to clear the basement of a golem, you hit the wooden pillars in combat and return to the mission site afterwards, you get a unique dialogue about how the ceiling of the house collapsed and the owner of the house died under the rubble. If you fought carefully the house will eventually be intact and the customer will stay alive.
I could go on and on listing examples like that in The Witcher 3. And there's nothing like that in Cyberpunk 2077.
Fixer Regina asks player to bring her friend over? Okay, let's follow his car after the quest. Surely this will lead to some unique scene and dialogue! After all, that's how the quests in The Witcher 3 were structured. No. The result is Regina's friend driving around town in circles.
Takemura asks you to hack the computer? What happens if you hack it beforehand? Nothing, hacking is impossible until the quest says "go hack that computer."
Panam ask to save Saul? What happens if I try to save Saul myself? Nothing, there is no way to save him before I go through the main gate of the building and the game tells me to "Go save Saul".
And so it is with every quest. Don't think, follow the quest instructions on the screen. There aren't even any additional dialogue scenes if you go back to the mission zone after completing the quest.
I have no problem with Cyberpunk not having the best open world in the gaming industry, I just expected non-linear quests that encourage the players to think with their head and reward that approach with unique scenes and dialogue. Something that was already perfectly implemented in The Witcher 3.
So what happened to quest design in Cyberpunk 2077?
PS: I hope I was able to express my thoughts clearly. English is not my native language.
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